In a significant push towards digital legal references, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud emphasized the importance of utilizing the Supreme Court Reporter (SCR) during a recent hearing on airport tariffs. Addressing advocates, the Chief Justice highlighted the recent updates made to the SCR, urging legal professionals to rely on the digital portal for accurate and official case citations and judgments.
The revised SCR, which had previously faced delays in updates, now ensures that reports, complete with headnotes, are promptly published as soon as judgments are uploaded. “Now you must give SCR citations! Because SCR is now officially up to date, please use SCR…please Google it. It’s digital, free, accurate, and the official reporter…it also has neutral citations,” stated the Chief Justice.
Further underscoring the technological advancements in the judicial documentation, CJI Chandrachud revealed that a dedicated team of nearly 20 young and talented lawyers is working tirelessly in the research and planning cell to prepare headnotes for the SCR reports. These efforts are part of a broader initiative to make judicial decisions more accessible and comprehensible to the public.*
In an ambitious move to bridge language barriers in the legal system, the Supreme Court has also undertaken translation of judgments into all constitutionally recognized Indian languages. “37,000 judgments since independence are translated into Hindi….Tamil is also leading now. Every language recognized by the constitution, judgments are being translated in. All our judgments now have neutral citations. SCR was way behind schedule, that’s why we made a mechanism that the moment judgment is delivered, it is uploaded with headnotes,” explained CJI Chandrachud.
